Electrical railway-signal



(No Model.) 2 She ets-Sheet 1. J O. WHITE. ELECTRICAL RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented June 25, 18.89

M w M@ WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS, Pnom-umu n her Wash! On D C (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.4 J.0. WHITE.

ELECTRICAL RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 405,815. Patented June 25, 1889..

WITNESSES:

a k fi UNITED STATES JAMES COLLORD YI'IITE, OF

PATENT OFFICE SE\VICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,815, dated June 25,1889.

Application filed January 10, 1889. Serial No. 295,914. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, JAMES COLLORDWVHITE, of Sewickley, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new section of oneof the track-rails fastened with bolts. Fig. d is a transverse sectionof one of the track-rails fastened with clamps. Fig. 5 is adiagrammaticrepresentation of a locomotive, showing the application of my improvedsignaling apparatus. Fi 6 is a transverse section of the same, and Fig.7 is a transverse section of one of the contact-wheels.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and eflicient systemof block-signaling for railroads, by means of which the engineer of alocomotive may always be informed as to whether the track is clear.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement ofparts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

The track-rails A A are of the usual description and are supported byties a. The ends of the rails A A are connected by fishplates b andbolts 0; but the said fish-plates and bolts are separated from the railsby insulating material to prevent the electric current from running fromone rail to another. I do not confine myself to this construction, asthe rails may be secured to separate supports and insulationmaybe'effected by an air-space between the ends of the rails orsecuredto the same support with no metallic communication between the rails.

I11 the present case I have combined with the railway-track two sets ofcontact-rails and electrical connections to adapt the road to trainsrunning in the same or opposite directions. For trains going in thedirection indicated by the arrow I have provided the contactrails d d ee, and for trains going in the opposite direction. I have provided thecontact-rails (Z d 6 (a In the present case each the block isrepresented by anumber of rails, and may be from one to two or moremiles in length. The contact-rails d d d d are arranged opposite thejoints of the rails, and the contact-rails e c of the adjoining sectionsare arranged near the rails d d. The contactrails e e of the adjoiningsections are arranged near the rails (Z d To facilitate theunderstanding of my improved system, I have numbered the sections 1 2 34. In describing the electrical connections of the rails 1 Will beginwith section 3, in which the contact-rail d is connected electricallywith the contact-rail e by the Wire f, and in like manner thecontact-rail d is connected by the wire f with the contact-rail e. Thecontact-rail e is connected with the trackrail A of section 4, and thecontact-rail e is connected with the track-rail A of section 4. Theconnections thus far described represent all the connections requiredfor one section fortrains running in one direction. The Wires f f willpreferably be arranged on telegraphpoles.

For trains running in the opposite direction the contact-rails e e ofsection 3 are connected with the track-rails A A of section 2. They arealso connected electrically with the rails d (1 which are located at thejunction of sections 3 and 4. The construction of the 0011- tact-railsis clearly shown in Fig. 2. These rails are adapted to bemounted uponthe ties at in the usual way, and may consist of two or more rails.

From the main frame 13 of the locomotive O are suspended four hangers D,in which are journaled the contact-wheels g g g 9 the wheels g g beingarranged to roll upon the main track-rails A A, and the wheels g g bewhen the train is running in the direct-ion of the arrow, and upon therails (l d e e when the train is going in the opposite direct-ion. Thehangers D of the wheels 9 g g are pivotally connected with thelocomotive-frame, and the said hangers are electrically insulated fromeach other. An electrical connection with each wheel is effected byawire attached to the hangers and running to the cab of the locomotive,the wheels 9 being connected by mg arranged to roll upon the rails e e dd rail represents a block; but in actual practice wires *6 2" with thepoles of the battery F, and

the wheels g g being connected by wires j j with the electric bell G inthe cab of the locomotive. e

When the locomotive moves forward in the direction indicated by thearrow, if there is no locomotive on the next section provided with abattery no signal is given in the cab when the wheels pass over thecontact-rails,

10 and the locomotive may proceed; but if there is upon the sectionoccupied by the locomotive another locomotive provided with a battery,when the wheels g g of the locomotive C touch the contact-rails d d thecircuit will be closed upon the bell and the bell will ring,

indicating that there is an engine in the adjoining section. Should thatengine be approaching, it will also be signaled when it passes itscontact-rails. After passing the rails d d the locomotive may proceedslowly to the rails e e, when, if the next section in advance isoccupied by a locomotive, (either running or still,) the alarm willagain be sounded, when the engineer will stop his loco- 5 motive andinvestigate the cause of the trouble or proceed with caution. Thisoperation will be repeated for every section, and where the track isprovided with adouble set of contact of the next section, one pair ofthe contactrails being opposite the joints of the sections, hangerssuspended from the locomotive, contact-wheels journaled in the hangers,a bell and battery on the locomotive, and wires extending from the saidhangers to the bell and battery, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

2. In an electric railway-signal, the combination of the track-rails AA, contact-rails d I d e e, the hangers D, contact-wheels g g g gbattery F, electric bell G, and the electric connections, substantiallyas specified.

7 JAMES OOLLORD WHITE. Witnesses:

J. W. S. WHITE, JOHN N. WHITE.

